Skip to content

What a disease alert means and where it comes from

Plan: Apisense PRO AI

A disease alert is a suspected disease in the colony. It is not a diagnosis. The alert comes from VitalSensor measurements. The VitalSensor analyses the air in the hive, including volatile organic compounds (VOC). When a disease develops in the colony, the composition of this air changes in a typical way. This often happens before you see symptoms.

What you need to get a disease alert

  • The Pro AI plan. The AI plan does not include disease detection.
  • A VitalSensor in the hive and a Hub in the apiary.
  • The first few days of measurements. After you add a VitalSensor to a hive, the app shows Collecting data. During this time the system does not assess the colony health yet.

A hive without a VitalSensor does not get disease alerts.

Where you see a disease alert

  1. The hive screen, Hive state tab, Health card. When there is an alert, the card shows Threatened, Potential problems and the list The colony may be affected by:.
  2. The apiary screen, Health tab. The tab shows the alerts from all hives. Filters: Active and Completed.
  3. A push notification. Tap it to open the problem details.

The alert card shows the disease name, Active since:, Infection: and Hive:. When there are no alerts, the Health tab shows No problems detected.

In the hive list, the tile of a hive with an alert has a chip with the disease name. A red chip means the level high or infected. A yellow chip means a lower level. The sign +1, +2 and so on next to the chip tells how many more diseases we suspect in this hive.

What the disease alert details contain

Tap the disease row. The details screen has two tabs:

  • Recommendations: the infection level, a description, the start date and the Recommendations list. Below the list there is the Answer a few questions button.
  • Answers: the forms that people already filled in for this alert.

How long a disease alert lasts

The alert stays active until the VitalSensor measurements show a healthy colony again. Then the alert moves to the Completed filter. Your answer in the form does not close the alert.

When the VitalSensor stops sending data, the alert can stay active. In this case, check the date of the last measurement. An old alert does not mean that the disease continues today.

Good to know

  • An alert is a signal to "check this colony". Always check the hive yourself.
  • The Apisense team sets the alert thresholds and rules. They can change. Do you think they do not fit your area? Write to us: bee@apisense.ai.
  • Frame photo analysis does not create disease alerts.
  • When the Pro AI plan ends, you see the old alerts, but you cannot fill in the form.

See also